Mini pineapple upside down cakes in ramekins! Such a cute dessert for two!
If we’re being completely honest here (which I hope we always are), I don’t love a big towering chocolate cake for my birthday. I like a simple mini pineapple upside down cake with a cherry in the middle. It has to be the caramel sauce that makes me love this dessert so much.
I love having my own personal cake made in a ramekin. It’s such a fun way to serve cake to everyone–no slicing and serving, just dump out the ramekins before serving!
These are the 10-ounce ramekins I use so that we get two decent sized mini cakes. If you buy them online, it’s hard to buy them in anything less than a six pack. It’s okay, because I use these mini bowls for prepping when I’m cooking or for holding sprinkles and such when I’m decorating cookies. If you have a small kitchen shop near you, you can probably just buy the two ramekins you need without getting stuck with extra ramekins.
Plus, I love shopping in little kitchen shops! I think the items they carry are so perfectly curated, and it makes me want to go home and cook immediately!
Mini pineapple upside down cakes in ramekins:
There are times when I replace the cherry with some chopped pecans. Pecans do amazing things in the oven when cooked in a sugary, buttery caramel sauce. I think that’s just my Texas showing, my love of pecans in desserts is so deep. Have you seen my pecan sticky buns or my ultimate big and chewy pecan chocolate chunk cookies? I always have a bag of pecans in my pantry.
If you’re searching for cherries for these mini pineapple upside down cakes, you’re looking for the bright red maraschino cherries in the canned fruit aisle. However, if you have fancy amarena cherries that you use for garnishing cocktails, then please use those! They don’t have the bright red characteristic flavor, but they are freaking delicious!
Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
Mini pineapple upside down cakes made in ramekins, serves two.
Ingredients
For the pineapple topping:
- 4 pineapple rings
- 4 pecan halves (or maraschino cherries, your choice)
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing ramekins
- 8 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons white sugar for ramekins
For the cakes:
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 8 teaspoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup unbleached flour
- Pinch of salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° and butter and sugar two 8-ounce ramekins.
First make the pineapple topping: In a small skillet over medium-low heat, melt the brown sugar and the butter. When the sugar is melted, divide between the two ramekins.
Then, place one pineapple ring in the center of each ramekin. Slice up the remaining rings and arrange around the whole ring in order to cover the entire bottom of the ramekin. In the middle ring, place one pecan half with the curved side up. Split the remaining pecan halves to fill the other gaps in the pineapple rings. Set aside while making the cake batter.
In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer.
Add the extracts, then the egg, mixing well.
Add the flour, pinch of salt, and baking powder. Beat well.
Finally, add the buttermilk. Once combined, divide the batter evenly between the ramekins and bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool 10-15 minutes before inverting onto plates.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 748Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 171mgSodium: 598mgCarbohydrates: 106gFiber: 6gSugar: 70gProtein: 10g
Ha, today is my wife’s birthday, and here you go talking about birthday cake. :)
That does look really good, but I think she is a bit too much of a choco-holic to pass on the chocolate cake. Sounds great for another day though!
Nice job on the cake! Looks delicious!
I’m not sure why but I’ve been thinking a lot about pineapple upside down cake lately even though I’ve never made it. Looks delicious!
I love all cakes but Pineapple Upside Down cake is one of my favorites. I did them as cupcakes but they sure look cute made in little ramekins. I can almost smell them :)
These are beautiful!
I have never made Pineapple Upside Down Cake, this looks fab!
I love all cakes but Pineapple Upside Down cake is one of my favorites. I did them as cupcakes but they sure look cute made in little ramekins. I can almost smell them :)
I love all cakes but Pineapple Upside Down cake is one of my favorites. I did them as cupcakes but they sure look cute made in little ramekins. I can almost smell them :)
I’ve been craving pineapple upside down cake for months, but didn’t want to be tempted by a whole pan full of it. I made pineapple teriyaki turkey burgers for my boyfriend and I, and had leftover pineapple. I did a quick search and found the perfect two serving cake recipe. It was just great. Super fast, super easy and very very tasty. Thanks so much! I will absolutely be using this recipe again!
Just ordered 10-ounce ramekins. Stuff just got real. ;)
Hi,
Could you tell me what the height and diameter of your 10 ounce ramekins are? I live outside the US and am wondering what size ramekins to buy for this cake.
Thanks :-)
2″ tall and 5″ wide. They hold 10 ounces of liquid
Made these this weekend for my dad for father’s day. They were very tasty, but the cake part is very dense.
Could you use crushed pineapple with these instead of the rings? Looks like a very good recipe, and since I live alone, would make just enough for me!
I haven’t tried it, but good luck if you do! Let me know :)
I made this for date night and it was so amazing that I made it again as my birthday cake a few days later. I add 1/2 tsp of almond while keeping everything the same and it was SCRUMPTIOUS!!
Your recipe instructions says two 8oz ramekins. Is it supposed to be 10oz?
Hah. Probably. Thanks, Laurel!
Thank u :) i have made this three times already and each time it is delicious :) once i started and had no buttermilk and no vinegar to mix with milk…i used greek yogurt and it came out AWESOME too :) this is my go to dessert :) thank u love it :)…also made ur single batch brownies…macadamia cookies and pumpkin chocolate cupcakes :) all 5 stars :)
Can you make this in the 6 inch cake pan instead of two ramekins?
I haven’t tried that, Michelle. I’m sorry! I bet you could, though!
If I double this recipe is it ok to use two eggs or just one :) thank u
Hi Eileen,
Double the recipe exactly as written. So, yes 2 eggs. Enjoy :)
Just made these and they taste great – surprisingly light with a crispy sugary coating. I struggled with making the syrup – I used dark brown sugar and it wouldn’t dissolve. I started again with white sugar and that worked better. So happy to have found this blog – your small-batch recipes mean now I can keep baking but without the guilt!
I made this recipe with a 6 inch round pan instead of the ramekins, using pineapple chunks, pecans and maraschino cherries -The only other thing I did differently from the recipe was to add 1/4 tsp of Rum flavoured extract. I’d forgotten how good pineapple upsidedown cake was… Delicious! This recipe is a keeper for sure.